Bhubaneswar: The much-awaited surgery on conjoined twins Jaga-Balia (Honey and Singh) of Odisha’s Kandhamal district was performed at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi today.

Sources said as many as 40 doctors including a team of experts from Japan were engaged in the much-talked about operation that began at 9 am this morning.

K. Taki Jawa, a renowned Japanese physician, is leading the 40-member team to separate the siamese twins.

Speaking to media persons here today, State Health Minister Pratap Jena said that the surgery started at about 9 am today. Apart from experts from Japan, specialists in neurosurgery, cosmetic surgery, cardiology and paediatrics have been roped in to carry out the surgery.

“The surgery will be done in two phases. The first phase which might take more than seven hours to be completed today. The next phase would be conducted a few days later,” Jena said here.

Odia doctor Ashok Kumar Mohapatra, a professor of neurosurgery at the AIIMS, Delhi is one of the key members of the team carrying out the operation.

Meanwhile, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Mohapatra about the ongoing separation surgery by assuring the State is ready to support in all possible way to make the operation successful.

Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said the veteran neurosurgeon said they are trying their level best to make the surgery successful to give a new life to the cojoined twins.

The twins belonging to Milipada village under Phiringia block in the tribal-dominated Kandhamal district were shifted to AIIMS on July 13 after a series of media reports prompted the state government to intervene.

A series of medical investigations were carried out on the conjoined twins prior to taking them into the operation theatre today.

The parents of the conjoined twins – Bhuiya Kanhar and Pushpanjali had expressed inability to treat their children citing financial issues.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had sanctioned Rs 1 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) for the treatment of the twins.

According to doctors, Jaga-Balia are craniopagus twins, a category which is very rare in the world accounting for about only two per cent in about every 2,00,000 births.